NOW that the blind auditions are over, The Voice 2019 has moved on to the next stage: the Battle Rounds.
Here’s what you need to know and how the steals work and who will be mentoring…
Rex Features
What’s happening on this week of The Voice?
Former X Factor stars Nicole Scherzinger and James Arthur have been unveiled as mentors on The Voice – set to air this Saturday March 9th, 2o19.
The 2012 winner and former judge have signed up to the rival show – with ex contestant Olly Murs, 34, already a Voice coach.
Nicole will be working with will.i.am having served as an X Factor judge in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017.
The 40-year-old admitted that she was “excited” to join this series of the rival show, saying: “Mentoring young talent has always been my passion and I’m so excited to join this season of The Voice UK as a guest mentor.
“Will is an exceptional coach and has incredible musical ears and I was so pleased he asked me to lend my support to nurture these artists throughout this process.
“He has chosen an amazing team and I can’t wait to see where their journeys take them.”
Meanwhile, Sir Tom Jones has enlisted 31-year-old James to give him a helping hand in the upcoming Knockout stage of The Voice.
The X Factor champ said of the gig: “It was great working alongside the legend that is Sir Tom Jones and his singers.
“He has a really strong team this year with huge potential… and hopefully the winner!”
Singer Anne-Marie has teamed up with Olly, and Olly Alexander from Years & Years will be helping to mentor Jennifer Hudson’s acts.
When did the Battle Rounds start?
The Battle Rounds started on February 23, 2019 at 8pm.
Feb 16 saw the end of the Blind Auditions as the judges finalised who they wanted on their teams.
Thanks to the format change, the battles will not only see soloists and duos fight it out, but trios will have a go at it, too.
The Battle Rounds continued until March 9th.
How do the Battle Rounds work?
Each round of the battles sees two acts from the same team go head-to-head.
They duet on a song and their performance determines who stays and who goes.
Then their coach is the only person to decide which one they want to take forward to the live shows.
Their coach must only pick one of them, so things often get tense and emotional.
Each judge is allowed to keep five singers to take to the live shows.
The rejected singer then leaves the show or is stolen by another judge.
How do the steals work?
When a coach decides to say goodbye to a competitor, their fellow judges get the chance to steal that act by pressing their button.
So all is not lost for the eliminated singers as they might bag themselves a second chance.
However, they can’t just steal as many as they want – the coaches each get one steal.
And if more than one coach wants to steal an act, the lucky performer gets to pick who they join in the race.
